Want 85% show rates on outbound meetings? Here's the System

Today I’m going to show you the system we use to get 85% show rates on meetings booked via outbound.

There is nothing more demoralizing for an organization than the appearance of a nice fat pipeline that disappears at the first hurdle never to be seen again. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how many meetings you set - if none of them show up to meet with you.  

So instead of relying on the prospect's word that they’ll show up to the meeting, I’ll show you the 5-step system we use to get 85% of outbound meetings to show up.

Improving show rates is the easiest way to increase pipeline creation from outbound

Here’s the five steps for those of you that want a quick hit:

1. Place the appropriate degree of importance on the meeting
2. Layout the confirmation process you’ll follow for the prospect.
3. Make sure the meeting invite is accepted within the first 24 hours
4. Account Executive Introduction
5. Reconfirm 24 hours before the meeting

No tricks, no expensive automations solutions required just a simple 5 step process. Let’s break them down.

Step 1: Place the appropriate degree of importance on the meeting

The first issue we see when diagnosing no-shows is not enough importance was placed on the meeting in the first place. It was positioned as something that might be helpful, or as something that the prospect might like to see.

This is wrong. Remember, business people are employed to solve problems, or stop problems from occurring in the first place. The prospect isn’t doing you a favor by agreeing to meet. They’re going to get some valuable information that can help them solve a real business problem. You’ll be communicating with the prospect again a couple of times before the meeting actually takes place, so make sure the tone and content of this communication reminds them that the session will be beneficial.

Step 2: Layout the confirmation process you’ll follow

Before you get off the call with the prospect (or during the email / LinkedIn exchange that generates the meeting) explain the confirmation process you’ll follow so that expectations are clear. Here’s how this should look.

“Alright. So what I will do is circle back quickly tomorrow to make sure you’ve received the invite and then follow up again the day prior to the demo just to check there are no conflicts. If we need to push it or pull it an hour or so, no worries. Sound good to you?”

By setting this expectation, and then following through. You’re helping to place the appropriate level of importance on the meeting. You’ll also avoid any perception that you’re being pushy or overly aggressive. If you’ve explained the process and they’ve agreed - you’re good.

Step 3: Get the prospect to accept the invite within the first 24 hours

Now that you’ve laid out the process, The first milestone is to get them to accept the meeting. If they don’t accept it immediately after you send it through - set a task for yourself to follow up 24 hours later. Keep following up once per day until the invite is accepted.

Step 4: Account Executive Introduction

If you’re scheduling meetings for someone else on your team, you’ll want to introduce them to the prospect prior to the meeting. This is best done 48  hours before the meeting is scheduled to take place. This should be a quick introduction delivered via email with a reply from the Account Executive (bonus points if there is a video message included). It should also provide a quick agenda of what the meeting will cover. Here’s an example of the introduction email:

Step 5: Reconfirm 24 hours before the meeting

The final step of the process is for the rep to re-confirm the meeting 24 hours before it’s due to take place. Here’s what that should look like:

“Hey Matt, this is just a reminder for the meeting we booked last Monday for this Fri April 8 @ 11 AM EST. I saw the meeting link was confirmed on your end, so if you need anything else from me at this point please reach me here. Otherwise we are looking forward to chatting to you tomorrow.”

Notice we’re not giving them an opportunity to opt out here. We’re simply reminding them that they’ve accepted the meeting and that it’s going ahead as planned.

Takeaways

You need to put in place a system that turns booked meetings into meetings that are actually held. The best 5 step system to do this is:

1. Place the appropriate degree of importance on the meeting
2. Layout the confirmation process you’ll follow for the prospect.
3. Make sure the meeting invite is accepted within the first 24 hours
4. Account Executive Introduction
5. Reconfirm 24 hours before the meeting

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